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Commentary A New Year and a New Congress O


Chris Meyers General Manager, Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives


n January 3rd, members of the U.S. House and Senate will be


sworn into the 113th United States Congress. The poli- tics of this new Congress won’t be changing much— Republicans still control the House and Democrats still


control the Senate and White House. However, for Oklahomans, this new Congress does bring some change. Two of our fi ve Oklahoma congressmen are new. For a small state that’s con- siderable turnover. Forty percent of our state’s population has a new congressman.


Leaving is Congressman Dan Boren from the 2nd Congressional District. He chose not to run for another term. He was and still is a great friend of the rural electric program. Replacing him is Congressman-elect Markwayne Mullin, a successful small businessman in Broken Arrow. Also leaving Congress is John Sullivan from the 1st Congressional District. He too supported the rural electric program while serving on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He was de- feated in the primary election by Congressman- elect Jim Bridenstine, a former Navy pilot from Tulsa.


While we have lost two strong supporters of the Powering the needs of new generations D


Glenn Propps President, Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives


uring the past year, several elec- tric cooperatives across Oklahoma


celebrated 75 years of ser- vice to their membership. Many more will mark this special anniversary in 2013. Such landmark events are


important, because they denote years of dedicat- ed service by locally owned businesses to their member-owner customers. And, 2013 is a special year for this publication, too. The fi rst issue of what was then called ‘Oklahoma Rural News’ rolled off the press in January, 1948— 65 years ago this month. It marked the fulfi llment of one of the seven Cooperative Principles: Education, Training, and Information. To wit: “Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers, and employ- ees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperatives. They inform the general public, particu- larly young people and opinion leaders, about the nature and benefi ts of cooperation.”


I want to focus on that last sentence. 4 WWW.OK-LIVING.COOP


While electric co-ops have a proven track record of providing excellent service to their members, co- op leaders of today recognize that they are serving a new generation of consumers—younger members who know or care little about their cooperative’s past. This ‘new generation’ of cooperative member has far different needs from those of their predecessors.


So, with this January edition of Oklahoma Living magazine, a new redesign is being launched, a new look and feel built with the purpose of appealing to younger co-op members while still remaining an educational and enjoyable publication for our old- er, loyal readers. This new format was designed with your help; the


Oklahoma Living staff conducted a series of focus group sessions across the state, and incorporated several of your ideas into the redesign. We would like to encourage you to take time to let us know what you think by sending our staff an email, or reach out to them via our social media outlets like Facebook or Twitter.


Your electric cooperatives are always looking ahead and planning for the future. We truly are “Powering the needs of new generations.”


rural electric program, we expect that we will have that same great support from our two new congress- men as well. After meeting with both, I can assure you that they genuinely care about our nation and especially our state. They go into this, as I suspect all do, with a strong desire to serve and to make a difference. Electric co-ops are pretty easy to work with—we don’t ask for much. We only ask for a balanced approach to energy policy and strive for affordable, reliable and safe electricity for all our members. It’s not hard to support that objective. It takes some time to understand the complexities of the electric- ity business in general and the unique differences between cooperatives, municipal systems, and in- vestor-owned systems, but that education process has already begun.


If you are included in the 40 percent who have a new representative in Congress, I encourage you to get to know them. And always remember, as an owner of your electric cooperative, your voice is important in keeping your electric rates affordable.


Be assured that your statewide offi ce and national


offi ce are focused on educating all our representa- tives about issues important to co-ops. We wish the best to our former congressmen and look forward to building new relationships with our two newly elected representatives.


Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives


Chris Meyers, General Manager Glenn Propps, President Joe Harris, Vice-President


Jimmy Taylor, Secretary-Treasurer Staff


Sid Sperry, Director of PR & Communications sksperry@oaec.coop


Anna Politano, Managing Editor editor@ok-living.coop


Larry Skoch, Advertising Manager lskoch@ok-living.coop


Christy Johnson, Offi ce Manager cjohnson@oaec.coop


Kirbi Bailey, Accountant/Offi ce Manager Asst. kbailey@oaec.coop


Hayley Leatherwood, Multimedia Specialist hleatherwood@ok-living.coop


Meg McElhaney, Intern oklintern@gmail.com


Editorial, Advertising and General Offi ces


P.O. Box 54309, Oklahoma City, OK 73154-1309 Phone (405) 478-1455


Oklahoma Living online: www.ok-living.coop Subscriptions


$3.12 per year for rural electric cooperative members.


$6.00 per year for non-members. Cooperative Members: Report change of


address to your local rural electric cooperative. Non-Cooperative Members: Send address


changes to Oklahoma Living, P.O. Box 54309, Oklahoma City, OK 73154-1309.


Oklahoma Living (ISSN 1064-8968),


USPS 407-040, is published monthly for consumer-members of Oklahoma’s rural electric cooperatives by the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives, 2325 E. I-44 Service Road,


P.O. Box 54309, Oklahoma City, OK 73154-1309. Circulation this issue: 314,142


Periodical postage paid at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Association of Electric


Cooperatives is a statewide service organization for the following electric cooperatives: Alfalfa, Arkansas Valley, Caddo, Canadian Valley,


Central Rural, Choctaw, Cimarron, Cookson Hills, Cotton, East Central Oklahoma, Harmon, Indian, KAMO Power, Kay, Kiamichi, Kiwash, Lake Region, Northeast Oklahoma, Northfork,


Northwestern, Oklahoma, Ozarks, People’s, Red River Valley, Rural, Southeastern, Southwest


Rural, Tri-County, Verdigris Valley, and Western Farmers Electric Cooperative.


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